In tilting tray sorting systems, a plurality of trays are mounted on a conveyor and moved successively to spaced delivery stations where the trays are selectively tilted about longitudinal axes of the conveyor to deliver the articles to the spaces or destinations.
One of the problems with such systems is that substantial distance along the path of the conveyor is required to permit the tilting of a tray and the discharge of an article. This distance is commonly termed a window. Because of the time involved in tilting a tray and the speed of movement of the conveyor, the window size is necessarily at least equal to the size of the article being delivered plus the distance traversed by the tray during the time period that the article is passing over the edge of the tray. As a result, it has been necessary to space the delivery stations including chutes or slides for receiving the articles at greater distances from one another.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a tilting tray sorting system which has a reduced window size permitting an increased number of sorting stations in any given length; wherein the system includes a mechanism for reducing the forward traverse distance of the article during the critical time period of delivery; and which mechanism is relatively simple in construction, resulting in reduced manufacturing costs.